Christmas with Herman in the New Forest

This Christmas we are spending it in Herman on a little campsite in Bartley, New Forest. My parents are staying at the Bartley Lodge Hotel which is a 45 minute walk away. One narrow section of the walk goes through the national park and is very muddy and dark at night. Wild horses roam these path and it's very normal for a group of them to be mingled together blocking the way. And sometimes they seem to loom out of the darkness to scare you witless.

Watch what happened on Christmas day when Zoe opens her presents

This is where we spent Christmas
View Christmas in a larger map

Otters, again

Today we decided to go back to Studland Beach to see if we could see the otters again but this time with our cameras. We weren't disappointed. Check this out.

We also went to see Old Harry's Rock which is in the same area.

Corfe Castle and Studland Bay

Corfe Castle is a bit drafty

The last couple of days have been great and the weather has been kind. Even though it has been forecast for torrential rain and 60 mph gusts.

Yesterday we went to Corfe Castle which is now a ruin. It was built in stone in the 11th century by William the Conqueror and was a royal fortress for 600 years.

Santa's Express

From the castle you look down upon the village of Corfe and the old railway line. At the moment they are running a steam train called the Santa Express. Well it is December after all.

Middle Beach

Today started out as a bright sunny day and we decided to risk it and go for a walk at Studland Beach. When we arrived the SBS (Special Boat Service, like the SAS but on water) were training by jumping out of a Hercules and parachuting into the ice cold sea.

Old Harry Rocks

We walked along the beach and headed to one of the bird hides on a lake called Little Sea which is a nature reserve. From the hide we saw a couple of otters, a kingfisher and a marsh harrier. At one point the otters were about 4 metres from us.

We had a brilliant time.

Pre Christmas Holiday in Herman

Wareham,we have ventured out in Herman for a week.

We will be staying at a Caravan Club site called Hunter's Moon in Wareham near Swanage which is on the south coast.

We've been told that it's very beautiful around here and we intend to find out for ourselves although the weather is forecasting rain. Never mind, there are plenty of other things to do such as Corfe Castle.

This is the first time out in Herman since we replaced the internal lights with LEDs. It's now a lot brighter. Before, it was like reading by candle light but now I'm a little worried about getting sun burn. Totally recommend doing this and it uses a lot less electricity too.

How to Hide Your Details in Facebook

It has recently came to my attention that my mobile number and other contact details are viewable by everyone on Facebook. As we all know Facebook keeps changing its security from time to time which exposes data that you may have hidden a while back so it's a good idea to check it once in a while.

With the new interface changing your profile security settings is easy but somewhat hidden. Here is how you find and change your security levels.

At the top right of the Facebook web page is your name, "Find Friend", "Home" and a down arrow. Clicking the down arrow displays a menu. Select the menu option 'Privacy Settings".

At the very top of Privacy Settings web page you'll see "Control Privacy When you Post" followed by the text "You can manage the privacy of your status updates, photos and information using the inline audience selector — when you share or afterwards. Remember: the people you share with can always share your information with others, including apps. Try editing your profile to see how it works or learn more."

To edit your privacy settings click the text that says "editing your profile" which takes you to the "Edit Profile" page.

On the left of the Edit Profile page you'll see a list of categories, the first one being "Basic Information' which is currently selected. The main part of the page displays your information depending on the category on the left. Clicking on a category changes the content on the page.

All you need to do now is change the privacy option by clicking the down arrow next to each piece of information. "Public" will allow everyone to see your info; "Friends" means only your friends can see your info; and "Only me" means nobody but you can see your info.

The privacy information for your contact details such as email and mobile number can be changed by clicking on the "Contact Information" category.